Tiffany and I are halfway through our workshop about goal-setting, nattering along at full-speed, when I see the question pop up in the chat box. “All of this is super helpful! But what if I don’t really know how to choose a goal? How do I even figure out where to start?”

That’s the rub, isn’t it? All the habit-making, goal-achieving advice in the world won’t help if you, uh, can’t figure out what goal to go after. And it certainly won’t help if you choose a goal you’re bored with or ambivalent about. I don’t want that for you!

3 questions that will help you choose a goal you’re excited about + will actually stick with

Why are you trying to achieve this goal? Like, really.

Why are you trying to make six figures? Why are you trying to give up coffee? Why are you trying to fit into size six jeans?

If you’re trying to make more money so you can pay off debt or buy a house, awesome! But if you’re trying to break the six-figure ceiling because all your professional peers have?

Well, you’re going to have a hard time maintaining much momentum or excitement when your true motivation is “keeping up with the Joneses.”

If you’re trying to give up coffee because it upsets your stomach and ruins your sleep, it’ll be (relatively) easy for your change your caffeine habit. If you’re giving it up because your super healthy BFF gave it up, it’ll be hard to get excited about green tea every morning.

How can you pursue your goal in a way you actually enjoy?

Let’s say my goal is “Exercise four times a week.” I could, theoretically, pursue that goal by going to the gym or running every morning. But I hate both those things!

Instead, I could put on my Youtube playlist called “Happy Dancing” and dance myself into a sweaty lather for 30 minutes, four times a week. I could put my beloved state park pass to use and explore hiking trails. I could meet friends for snowshoeing or skiing. I like doing all those things! And, what luck, they also happen to be exercise.

If my goal is “Have one networking lunch each week,” I could make sure those networking lunches happen at my favorite cafes. I could invite friends over for Prosecco and brunch to help me meet my goal of de-cluttering my closet.

13 Comments

Thank you for this helpful post! ❤️ Me, I’m definitely a goal-setter, but when it comes to achieving them… it’s 50/50! Getting better year by year, heh! I don’t beat myself up if I don’t achieve them, though. 🙂

I love that you talked about enjoying the process of reaching your goals and also setting some not-so-serious goals. This was my first year of setting some fun goals for myself (usually they’re all very serious), and it has been really enriching. Thanks for the great post!

It’s working. After years of yo-yo dieting I finally lost 30%-of my weight just with some little changes. Instead of ridiculous strict diets I’m started calorie counting. I make sure that I have a treat food every day. It’s amazing how much I can eat in 1200 calorie. I make fun trying new recipes or refresh old favorites with a less calorie version. I found the healthywage website and made bets for my weight loss, it’s very motivating.

Love this Sarah! Other people’s goals are good for inspiration but you always need to make sure you do that happiness check. I do this with blogging — I ask myself what my version of success is and what would make me happy — do I need to earn $2 million from my blog or would a loyal connected community make me happier with a lower income target? Simple as that.

Disclaimer

Actions taken from the hyperlinks on this blog may yield commissions for Yes and Yes. All content copyrighted by Sarah von Bargen. All photos are embedded with links to the original source unless otherwise noted.